


Just a baby

by littlerumbird



Series: Interstellar Oceans [4]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Angst, Baby Fic, F/M, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27773707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlerumbird/pseuds/littlerumbird
Summary: Set about halfway through season 2, episode 1 "The Child." This sort of falls in the middle of "She's an Intensely Private person" but I didn't know I would be writing this when I wrote the earlier fic months ago.It seemed simple enough in his mind: Will Riker wasn’t about to let Deanna deal with her first night as a parent, as a single parent, alone.
Relationships: William Riker/Deanna Troi
Series: Interstellar Oceans [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026340
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Just a baby

It seemed simple enough in his mind: Will Riker wasn’t about to let Deanna deal with her first night as a parent, as a single parent, alone. He waited several long moments outside her new family quarters, waiting to be let in. But when it felt like it had been a minute or longer, he finally went with his gut and used his override code. There were advantages to being First Officer.

He’d missed her on the bridge today. He’d wanted, more than anything in the galaxy, to be with her in delivery. But she’d chosen Data, and he deserved it for the way he’d reacted in front of not only her but also the entire senior staff. But she’d forgiven him, and it made his heart clench and turn into liquid when she’d smiled at him with her son in her arms.

He found her in her lounge, curled up on her sofa and asleep with a child that somehow looked like he was five months old instead of a handful of hours. Dark eyes blinked up at Will, and Ian squirmed a little and pouted.

“Hey there,” Will murmured, gut clenching as his mind tried to calculate this growth rate. He wasn’t really sure what the curve was on this rate of growth. Pushing it from his mind, he scooped up the child and cuddled him close.

Ian stared up at him, uncoordinated fingers grasping and reaching for his com badge.

“Sorry, buddy,” he apologized, removing the badge and setting it on a nearby table. “Let’s let your mom sleep, hmm?”

“’s gonna be hungry,” came a drowsy voice, and Deanna was giving him a small smile. “Hi, Will.”

He nodded toward the bedroom. “You need some sleep.”

“You do, too,” she protested, pushing herself up and pushing back stray locks of hair that had come loose from the ponytail she sported these days. “And he’s going to need to be changed.”

Will shook his head, bouncing the boy in his arms gently when the boy’s pout grew. “Deanna, please go sleep. You _had a child_ today. All I did was oversee a cargo transfer. I don’t care what Pulaski says about how easy it was and how fast you’re recovering. You need to sleep.”

Her arms crossed and she gave him a leveling gaze as Ian began to cry. “Exactly how do you plan to change that diaper, Commander Riker?”

He cast about for a surface to use, suddenly aware of the smell starting to come from the baby. “I’m sure I can figure it out,” Will countered. Shifting his hold on the baby, he moved toward the replicator and began fumbling through a menu. “What… size does he wear?”

“Either a two or a three by now,” she sighed, clearly aware his growth was still fast but not wanting to talk about it at the moment. “Will, I really should –”

“I’ve got this,” he argued, grimacing to himself over the crying baby because this wasn’t how he thought it would go. He didn’t have ulterior motives here, but he didn’t expect her to be annoyed with him. Or for him to feel defensive about it. Or for a baby to be so complicated.

Her head tilted to the far corner where he finally spotted an area clearly designated for taking care of a baby. It was padded, and he only fiddled slightly with the lid before he opened it and found something like tissues and realized they were damp.

“Will,” she sighed, though amusement was definitely there, too. “Use the strap to make sure he doesn’t roll over—”

Before she could finish the sentence, the boy twisted around and was now on his belly and rocking on his knees. Will started to reach to turn him around when it all got worse… so much worse. “Oh shit,” the words slipped out before he could process the fact that he named the very thing he was seeing. There was… so much of it. “How is it… how does he even have that much in him?”

Her laugh bubbled up, and Ian, who had been perfectly happy rocking was now loudly protesting being turned back over.

“I don’t know… if I take it off, it’s gonna go everywhere,” he stepped back, not wanting it on his hands and completely at a loss for where to start. He was definitely _not_ prepared for this. He winced as the baby’s protest was suddenly louder. “okay… okay…” Turning his head to the side, he took a quick breath and decided it was better to do this as fast as possible and get it over with.

He managed to open the sides of the diaper, Deanna directing him to use it to remove what he could. A few moments on, Will realized he’d forgotten the buckle again, and one hand steadied the small shoulder keeping the protesting Ian from rolling to his belly again. Snagging a wad of the wipes, he tried to clean as fast as he could and dropping it into the reclaimator immediately after.

It wasn’t the worst tactic. But he didn’t realize it wasn’t the best approach, either. Will was gaining ground until suddenly his top was getting wet, and he cursed roundly while Deanna let out another tired laugh and moved to join him.

She grabbed a towel and managed to contain the latest leak. “Will, it’s very sweet of you to help out,” Deanna finally said, giving his arm a squeeze. “But I think this one is a little above your experience level.”

He wrapped the towel around the baby, and lifted Ian again. “I’m a fast learner. A quick sonic shower, and we’ll both be fine.” He nodded toward the room. “Please go sleep. Take a nap at least?”

Deanna gave a soft sigh but finally turned toward her room, pausing at the doorway. “As soon as it’s finished, cover him up, or you’ll end up wet again. Pulaski warned me about that one. You’ll want to take the nappy with you.”

Ian hadn’t been happy for a bit after his sonic shower. It baffled Will that he refused his bottle, but he was clean and warm. So Will searched a PADD for answers and settled on walking the corridor, glad the doors and walls were soundproof. And then he shifted the baby, opening his shirt and cuddling Ian against his own bare chest, tucking his shirt around Ian for warmth. And as though he’d finally hit jackpot, Ian babbled something and rested his head against Will’s heart and fell quiet for the next hour as they walked calmly along dim decks.

Bottles were easier after their walk, and Will was grateful. The replicator produced exactly what was needed. A walked Ian had been far more agreeable, downright cheerful. And only mildly resisted efforts to work him into a little white singlet before his bottle.

And now a small hand rubbed at closed eyes, and Ian’s mouth drooped slightly. Will shifted the baby, who was no longer interested in the bottle he’d almost drained faster than Will thought possible. He remembered something about burping, and it was a relief when this part was easier yet. It was something like twenty three hundred hours with a gummy smile appeared on Ian’s face, his eyes blinking slowly and staying closed as he gave a sigh.

“He’s milk drunk,” came a soft voice from the doorway.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” Will countered as he set the nearly empty bottle on a nearby low table.

Deanna’s fingers brushed over the thatch of dark hair that was thickening and now curled slightly. “He changes so quickly,” she breathed, lifting her son and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. She held him for long moments before easing Ian into the bassinette nearby.

Will joined her, watching the boy falling deep into sleep, and it seemed as natural as breathing to slide an arm around her waist. Before he could pull it back, her hand found his and threaded her fingers through his, holding his arm in place around her.

“He’s so peaceful when he sleeps,” she finally spoke, eyes never leaving the baby as she studied full lips and the small fist that flexed once and relaxed. “And he’s… he’s changing so fast. Too fast, Will.”

It hurt not to have answers. Not to have a way to fix this for her. He hadn’t even heard Pulaski try to offer any solution. Their focus for two days was on the baby’s arrival. If it was even safe for him to joint them on the Enterprise. There hadn’t been much time to consider what would happen he did arrive.

Her tears were welling up now, and he _hated_ to see her cry. More accurately, he hated to see her hurting. She was warmth and kindness and did so much for everyone else. She shouldn’t be going through this at all, and he wished he knew who or what to blame for this torture she was going through. To love this child so deeply, this tiny taste of being a family. And to be painfully aware it couldn’t last. Wouldn’t last.

“I know I need to sleep, but I don’t want to miss a second of it. It’s… it’s too fast.” She gave in to him, letting him pull her to her sofa and into his lap. His hand cupped her head, other arm banding tightly around as she sobbed into his chest. Time slowed around them, and he wasn’t sure how long they spent like that.

He woke some time later to the first cries, Deanna somehow sleeping through it. It was easier this time when he knew how to move the baby to another room and bring a replicated bottle with him. He didn't even need full lights to handle it. This feeding was messier, but Ian was single-minded with the bottle. It took a little longer to burp, but Will managed this diaper change far more successfully than the first. And it was only a few paces along the small corridor in family quarters with Ian against his chest to get the baby back to sleep. Despite how tired he felt, Will took his time, took extra laps across the room because there was something blissful about this small person so at ease with him. He was surprised at how reluctant he felt to return Ian to the bassinet. And he had simply shifted Deanna slightly and contorted himself back onto the sofa with her and promptly fallen back to sleep himself.

Will's internal clock woke him at zero seven hundred to a silent room. Ian was still asleep and Deanna curled against Will, head nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Alpha shift was still an hour away, but he needed a new uniform and to change from the casual nightclothes he’d replicated before the sonic shower hours ago. Moving very slowly, he lifted Deanna and arranged a few pillows before easing her back down again and tucking a blanket around her.

Ian was stretched out like a little starfish. A bigger starfish. Because he’d grown in his sleep, and the singlet was now snug and would be too small in another few hours. So much time lost, so many milestones likely gone all for a few hours of rest. Will wanted to punch something at the unfairness of it.

Instead, he lifted the boy and changed his diaper again. Only wet this time, and managed to get the baby into new, bigger clothing. His fingers stroked through the thicker curls, and he dropped a warm kiss to the baby’s head before slipping from her quarters.

It was still early, not quite shift change. The hallway was nearly at full lights for alpha shift and to keep their circadian rhythms intact. He was infinitely grateful for an empty turbo lift. Somewhere around deck ten, he paused the lift. Hot tears welled up, and Will Riker’s palm smacked the back of the lift as the full depth of Ian Andrew Troi’s rapid growth rushed over him. At this rate, the boy would be an adult in maybe weeks. Or less. Deanna knew it. Pulaski had opted for a compassionate lie with “just a baby.” While he didn’t fear _what_ Ian might be, Will did fear how long the boy would be. This child had upended their lives, and the future was no less uncertain. But the future was arriving far too fast.

Three minutes, he promised himself. Three minutes to let out all the emotion. Far enough from Deanna not to wake her with the intensity of feelings that left him breathless. Privacy, to be a man hurting for his friend instead of First Officer Will Riker.

“Data to Commander Riker,” his com badge chirped.

He swallowed down the next cry, throat thick with emotion as he tapped his badge. “Riker here.”

“Commander, the computer reports turbo lift one is paused. Are you alright?”

“’m fine,” he replied, rubbing his face and trying to compose himself. “I, ah, needed a minute. I’ll be up to relieve you in twenty six minutes.” He acknowledged the end of the call and reactivated the lift, mind whirling with plans. Maybe a split shift. He’ll have to stop for lunch anyway. It would be a good time to check on Deanna and Ian. And as he turned toward his quarters to wash his face and dress in uniform, Will adamantly pushed away all thoughts about how old Ian Troi would be when he saw the boy again.


End file.
